Category: 07 (July 2017)

Results from the first large randomized trial with patient-centred outcomes | Critical Care

Environmental contamination may play a major role in intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired infections, despite current terminal cleaning standards. Anderson et al. recently performed the first large randomized trial investigating a no-touch method of terminal cleaning with a patient-centred outcome, and provided more robust data on the role of environmental contamination for healthcare-associated infections. The authors evaluated three different enhanced terminal disinfection methods (ultraviolet, UV light, UV light plus bleach, and bleach) compared to the reference standard for prevention of transmission of multidrug resistant organisms (MDROs) and Clostridium difficile to patients exposed to a room whose prior occupant was either colonized or infected with a MDRO.

Institutional antimicrobial stewardship programs seek to decrease the occurrence of C difficile by implementing strategies to address antibiotic usage; however, optimal structure and strategies for accomplishing this remain largely unknown | American Journal of Infection Control

Background: Israel experienced a national outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceaee (CRE) starting in 2006.

Methods: Retrospective quasi-experimental study of prospectively collected data. CRE incidence, defined as the number of patients newly acquiring CRE in surveillance or clinical samples per 100,000 hospitals days (HD), was plotted quarterly between 2005 to 2016. IC interventions were applied at different time-points throughout this period. We collected data on IC staffing, number of rectal surveillance cultures and carbapenem consumption. We used auto-correlated segmented linear regression analysis to assess the time-points where a significant change in the CRE incidence trend occurred and assessed the relationship between the timing of IC intervention implementation and observed CRE trends. Trends between time-points are expressed as quarterly percent change (QPC) with 95% confidence intervals.

Findings: Between 2005-2008, CRE incidence increased significantly, QPC 19.7% (11.5-28.4%), reaching a peak of 186.6 new acquisitions/100,000 HD. From mid-2011 until the end of follow-up, there was a significant decreasing incidence trend, QPC -4.5 (-6.4 to -2.5). Cohorting of patients, screening of contacts and high-risk patients on admission were insufficient to control the epidemic. Improved hand hygiene compliance, cohorting with dedicated nursing staff, addition of regular screening in high-risk departments and carbapenem restriction were required. Decreasing CRE incidence was observed with an ID/IC staffing of 1.2-1.5/100 beds and 20,000-36,000 yearly CRE surveillance samples.

Conclusions: A multifaceted hospital-wide intervention program is required to control CRE in hospital settings.

Cancer researchers may have stumbled across a solution to reverse antibiotic drug resistance and stop infections like MRSA. | Via ScienceDaily

Experts warn we are decades behind in the race against superbugs having already exploited naturally occurring antibiotics, with the creation of new ones requiring time, money and ingenuity.

But a team of scientists at the University of Salford say they may have found a very simple way forward — even though they weren’t even looking for antibiotics.

And they have created and validated several new antibiotics already — many of which are as potent, or more so, than standard antibiotics, such as amoxicillin.

“A little like Alexander Fleming, we weren’t even looking for antibiotics rather researching into new compounds that might be effective against cancer stem cells,” explains Michael P. Lisanti, Chair of Translational Medicine at the University’s Biomedical Research Centre.

“I think we’ve accidentally invented a systemic way of creating new antibiotics which is simple, cheap and could be very significant in the fight against superbugs,” added Dr Federica Sotgia, a co-author on the study.

Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) have proven to be effective in optimizing antibiotic use for inpatients. However, Emergency Department (ED)’s fast-paced clinical setting can be challenging for a successful ASP | The Journal of Hospital Infection

Aim: In April 2015, an ASP was implemented in our ED and we aimed to determine its impact on antimicrobial use for outpatients.

Methods: Monocentric study comparing the quality of antibiotic prescriptions between a one-year period before ASP implementation (November 2012 to October 2013) and a one-year period after its implementation (June 2015 to May 2016).

For each period, antimicrobial prescriptions for all adult outpatients (hospitalized for <24hours) were evaluated by an infectious disease specialist (IDS) and an ED physician to assess compliance with local prescribing guidelines. Inappropriate prescriptions were then classified.